Coil forming mechanism



1968 J. o. WHITCOMB COIL FORMING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17, 1966 R Y .m m m m 9 We m 5 N m n 0 w a e H V 5 6 W ll\ 6 u v M w 6 W J Y 9 B 6 8K. 9 r0 Oct. 8, 1968 J. o. WHITCOMB 3,404,711

COIL FORMING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 17, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 El- L INVENTOR JOHN 0. WH/ TC OMB ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1968 J. o. WHITCOMB 3,404,711

COIL FORMING MECHANISM I 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 17, 1966 INVENTOR JOHN O. WHI TCOMB ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,404,711 4 COIL FORMING MECHANISM John 0. Whitcomb, Enola, Pa., assignor to Hickok Manufacturiug Company, Harrisburg, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 521,027 6 Claims. (Cl. 140-92.3)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rotary mandrel forms wire coils for binding books such as stenographers notebooks. Just ahead of the mandrel, a stress removing wheel is employed and around which the wire is wound in the same direction as on the mandrel to remove previously introduced stresses from the wire and then introduce into the wire stresses which correspond to the curvature imparted to the wire by the mandrel, thus providing wire coils of perfectly uniform pitch to prevent the coils from binding while being spun through the openings in the notebook.

This invention relates to a coil forming mechanism for book binding machines.

' In the manufacture of certain types of books, for example, stenographers notebooks, it is the common practice to wind wire coils, rotate them to spin the coils through the book openings provided for the reception of the coils. The wire from which the coils are made is pulled upwardly from a so-called wire barrel.

In manufacturing the wire and coiling it around a vertical axis in the barrel, uneven stresses are placed in the wire. As a result, when the wire is pulled from the barrel and wound to form coils threaded through stenographers notebooks, for example, the inherent stresses in the wire result in the formation of coils of non-uniform pitch. In threading the wire through the book openings, therefore, there is a serious tendency for the wire to bind in the openings.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel mechanism for removing or overcoming the barrel stress prior to the formation of the coil so that the resultant book binding coil is of uniform pitch, thus eliminating any binding of the turns of the coils in the book openings.

A further object is to provide ahead of the coil forming device a member having a curved surface around which the wire is flexed to remove the undesirable stresses from the wire to facilitate the formation of coils of uniform pitch.

' A further object is to provide such a mechanism wherein the wire is caused to take a complete turn around an axis parallel to the axis of the coiling device, thus overcoming barrel stress with the result stated above.

A further object is to provide such a mechanism which not only overcomes the barrel stress but also bends the wire arounda turn corresponding to the direction in which the wire will be wound to form the coil, thus facilitating the formation of the coil.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description. l In thedrawings I have shown one embodiment of the inventiomln this showing:

FIGURE 1 is a face view of the mechanism showing a portion of the main supporting frame associated wit the machine,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a coil barrel from which a wire is being withdrawn as indicated in dotted lines thereon,

' Patented Oct. 8, 1968 FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view on line 33 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged axial sectional view through the coiling device, the coil mandrel being shown in elevation,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged end elevation of the coiling mechanism and associated parts, looking from the right in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 6 is an edge elevation of the stress removing wheel,

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged face view of the bearing and associated structure in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged detailed section on line 88 of FIGURE 1.

The present mechanism is intended for use in the machine of the type shown in my prior Patent No. 3,133,- 562, granted May 19, 1964. In this mechanism, books are fed from the portion of the machine indicated by the numeral 112 in the prior patent and the preformed openings in the book are engaged with hooks 85 (FIG. 3 of the patent) carried by a turret 18 to be carried around the axis of the shaft 11 (FIG. 1 of the patent) for the performance of various operations, one of which is the threading of the book binding coil through the openings in the book. In FIGS. 1 and 7 of the present application, the numeral 10 designates a portion of the main frame of the book binding machine, corresponding to the frame members 10 in FIG. 2 of my prior patent. A hearing structure indicated as a whole by the numeral 11 is mounted on one of the side frame members 10 and comprises a lower base structure 12 (FIG. 7) mounted on the top of the frame 10 and secured thereto in any suitable manner, for example, by screws 13. The base 12 is provided with guide means 14 receiving a dovetail member 15 carried by a body member 16 for adjustment of the latter transversely of the coil winding axis to be described. The body member 16 is provided with guide means 18 receiving a bearing support 19 having a dovetail 20 slidable in the guide means 18. Adjustment of the body 16 is through a screw 22 (FIGS. 5 and 7) for movement of the body 16 transversely to the Winding axis, while adjustment of the body 16 parallel to the winding axis is accomplished through a screw 23. A bearing proper 26 FIG. 5) is provided with a vertical dovetail 27 slidable in a vertical guide 28 in the member 20 and a screw 29 is provided for vertical adjustment of the bearing 26. The adjusting means thus far described need not be shown in detail and form no part of the present invention.

The bearing 26 supports a shaft 29 (FIG. 7) on which is mounted a sprocket 30 to be engaged with a drive chain (not shown) driven from any suitable source of power. A hand wheel 32 is mounted on the left-hand end of the shaft 29 in FIG. 7 for the hand-turning of the shaft 29 for the initial winding or starting of a coil, as will become apparent below.

A cylindrical extension 35 (FIG. 7) on the bearing 16 is threaded as at 36 for engagement within a locking cap 37 turned up tightly on the threads 36 to be held stationary.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, a coil winding device is indicated as a whole by the numeral 40. Any suitable type of coil winding device may be used. In the present instance, such device comprises a tapered mandrel 41 of circular cross-section having a projecting driving stem 42 tapered as shown in FIG. 4. This stern (FIG. 7) has a driving fit in the adjacent end of the shaft 29 to be driven thereby, and is removable to be replaced by the stem of a mandrel 41 of different size, when desired.

Within the cap 37 is mounted a disk 45 carrying a radial pin 46 engageable in a slot 47 in the cylindrical extension 35 to prevent rotation of the disk 45. This disk carries parallel arms 48 (FIGS. 4, 5 and 7) and within these arms is mounted a heavy rigid coil brazed or otherwise secured to the arms 48 and preferably pinned thereto (not shown). The coil is wound on the mandrel 41 as described below between the turns of the spiral member 50. The mandrel '41 is freely rotatable within the member 50 and has a clearance therewith of the order of about .010 (shown exaggerated at 51, FIG. 3). This clearance allows free rotation of the mandrel 41 but prevents the wire coil being formed from becoming jammed between the mandrel and the spiral member 50.

In FIGS. 1 and 7 a wire is shown being fed downwardly to the coil forming device from the end of which the coil is threaded through openings 56 near the edge of a book 57 held in position by any suitable means (not shown), such as the means disclosed in my prior patent referred to above.

The wire 55 feeds over a pulley 59 (FIG. 1) journaled in a bearing arm 60 carried by a structural member 61 preferably of inverted channel-shape as shown in FIG. 8. The structural member is carried by a vertical post 64 to which it is welded. The post is mounted in any suitable manner at its lower end on the bearing structure 11.

Below the pulley 59 an arm 65 carries a block 66 in which are mounted a plurality of rollers 67 through which the wire 55 passes. These rollers bend the wire back and forth slightly and having a slight tendency to remove barrel stress but to a wholly inadequate extent. These rollers are conventional and need not be shown in detail.

The arm 61 slopes downwardly away from the machine, as shown in FIG. 1 and carries a plurality of plates 69 (FIG. 8) drilled as at 70 to receive a tube 71 of small diameter through which the wire 55 passes upwardly to the pulley 59. The lower end of the arm 61 carries a bearing 73 rotatably supporting a pulley 74. Extending downwardly from the pulley 74 is a short tubular section 75 to which the wire 55 is fed upwardly to the pulley 74. The tube 75 may be supported by a bracket 76 welded or otherwise secured at its upper end to the bearing 73.

The wire 55 is pulled upwardly to the tube 75 from a barrel 80 (FIG. 2) having a loose top 81 of slightly smaller diameter than the barrel, held in position by its own weight and provided with a plurality of sheet metal clips 82 overhanging the cover 81. The clips 82 prevent too much wire from being pulled from the barrel and possibly becoming tangled. The line of pull to the pulley 74 is coaxial with the barrel 80, as indicated by the line 85. The pulled wire feeds between the cover 81 and each successive clip 82, each clip snapping down against the cover 81 as the wire passes therebeyond. The barrel 80 and the associated elements form no part of the present invention, the latter being primarily concerned with the removal of the barrel stress from the wire.

The bearing 26 is provided with an upwardly extending portion (FIG. 5) horizontally grooved as at 91 to form a guide for a relatively heavy bar 92 (FIG. 7) slotted as at 93 to receive an adjusting screw 94 carried by the upwardly extending bearing portion 90 to fix the bar 92 in longitudinally adjusted positions. One end of the bearing portion 90 rotatably supports a screw 95 having knurled head 96, the screw 95 being threaded into the adjacent end of the bar 92 to move it longitudinally to adjusted positions.

The right-hand end of the bar 92 (FIG. 7) is slotted as at 98 to receive a block 99 carrying a plate 100 depending therefrom as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. The block 99 is slotted as at 102 to receive a screw 103 for clamping the block 99 and plate 100 in adjusted positions laterally of the bar 92.

A shaft 104 carried by the plate 100 rotatably supports a stress control wheel 105 having a peripheral groove 106 (FIG. 6) about which the wire 55 is turned once before passing through the coil forming device 40. It will be noted that the stress control wheel 105 has its axis parallel to the axis of the mandrel 41. Referring to FIG. 5 it will be apparent that the direction of winding of the wire 55 around the wheel 105 is the same as the direction of winding of the wire around the mandrel 41, namely, counter-clockwise.

Operation In starting the apparatus, the wire is pulled upwardly from the barrel 80, fed through the tube 75, around the pulley 74 thence upwardly through the tube 71 and around the pulley 59. The leading end of the wire is threaded between the sets of rollers 67, then wound once around the wheel 105 and inserted in the proper groove defined by two adjacent turns of the spiral member 50 (see FIG. 7). The'wire extends within the adjacent arm 48 at the entering side of the wire around the mandrel. The wire is bent around the mandrel, following the space between the turns of the spiral member 50. The mandrel 41 is tapered to increase in size toward the right-hand end thereof (FIG. 4). It will be apparent that the initial turns of wire about the mandrel will fit relatively loosely thereon (FIG. 3). With the sprocket 30 (FIG. 7) running free, the hand wheel 32 will be rotated in a clockwise direction looking from the left, and as the leading end portion of the wire therearound approaches the larger end of the mandrel, it will engage therewith and be frictionally held thereby.

The machine is now ready for operation, the sprocket 30 being driven to rotate the mandrel to wind the wire 55 thereon and feed it in coiled form from the right-hand end of the machine in FIGURE 1. The advancing end of the wire with the book 57 properly positioned with respect thereto, will enter the first opening 56, and as the coil is continuously rotated, the leading end of the coil will thread through successive openings 56 throughout the width of the book. When the coil has been completely fed into position, the coil is clipped and crimped adjacent the book, whereupon the latter is advanced to the next station for the performance of the next operation. Another book is immediately brought into position ready for the next succeeding wire threading or book binding operation.

Spiral stresses are particularly disadvantageous in the making of larger coils for larger books. The wire is pulled upwardly from the barrel along the line 85 in FIG. 2, representing the axis of the barrel 80. The wire is uncoiled from thebarrel by following around the edge of the cover 81. The inherent stresses in the wire occurring during the drawing and coiling of the wire in the barrel 80 remain therein and result in the winding of coils of varying pitches. With a coil in diameter, the pitch of the resultant coil made by the device 40 will vary every 10 or L2 turns around the mandrel and it is this fact that causes a serious binding action to occur as the coil is fed through the openings 56 (FIG. 1).

By turning the wire about the stress control wheel 105 the barrel stress is completely relieved and stresses are set up in the wire in the same direction that it Will turn about the mandrel 41. Thus a continuous coil of uniform pitch is provided and all binding action in the book openings 56 is eliminated.

While the Wire is guided in its movement along the mandrel 41 between the turns of the spiral member 50 such member does not control the pitch of the coil. The pitch is controlled by the relative position of the stress control wheel 105 relative to the point of entry of the wire between turns of the spiral member 50 into engagement with the mandrel 41. By loosening the screw 94 (FIG. 7) turning the knob 96 to move the bar 92 and stress control wheel 105 to the left, the pitch of the coil may be increased. Conversely, moving the stress control wheel assembly to the right will reduce the pitch of the coil. After suitable adjustment has been made, the screw 94- will be tightened.

It is preferred that the wire 55 move downwardly from the stress control wheel substantially vertically into engagement with the mandrel 41, as shown in FIGURE 3.

If the position of the stress control wheel is adjusted to the left in FIGURE 3 by loosening the screw 103 to the point where the wire inclines downwardly and to the right, the wire may engage one of the arms 48, which would be disadvantageous. Therefore, depending upon the size of the mandrel 41 being used, the screw 103 is loosened and the stress control wheel adjusted laterally of the mandrel so that the point of tangency of the wire 55 where it leaves the groove 106 is directly above the point of tangency of the wire initially engaging the mandrel 4 1, or slightly to the right thereof. Thus, any interference from the arms 48 is avoided.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the stress control wheel 105 cooperates with the associated elements of the apparatus to completely eliminate barrel stresses so as to provide continuous book binding coils of uniform pitch. This uniformity is further insured by the fact that the turning of the wire about the 'stress control wheel is in the same direction that the wire turns about the mandrel 41, thus introducing favorable stresses into the wire to facilitate the coil winding operation.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mechanism for forming wire coils of uniform pitch, a coil forming device around which wire is wound to form a coil, means for feeding wire to said device, and means engaging the wire in advance of its engagement with said device for removing stresses previously introduced into the wire so that the resultant coil will possess uniformity of pitch throughout, said stress removing means comprising a member provided with an arcuately curved surface having its axis parallel to the axis of said coil forming device and around which the wire passes in the same direction of curvature as around said coil forming device and directly from which curved surface the wire passes directly to said coil forming device.

2. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said coil forming device comprises a mandrel, said stress removing means comprising a wheel having its axis parallelrto said mandrel and around which the wire passes in the same direction of curvature as around said mandrel and from which the wire passes directly to said mandrel to remove previously formed stresses from the wire.

3. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said coil forming device comprises a mandrel, said stress removing means comprising a freely rotatable wheel around which the wire is wound prior to its engagement with said mandrel to remove previously formed stresses in the wire, said wheel having its axis parallel to the axis of said mandrel, the wire partaking of a single turn around said wheel in the same direction that the wire is wound on said mandrel and passing directly from said wheel to said mandrel.

4. In a mechanism for forming wire coils of uniform pitch, a source of coiled wire from which the wire is drawn, a coil forming device around which wire supplied thereto from said source is wound to form a coil, and means arranged between said source and said device for removing from the wire any stresses introduced thereinto prior to engagement of the wire with said stress removing means, said coil forming device comprising a mandrel, said stress removing means comprising a wheel around which the wire is turned in the same direction as around said mandrel and from which wheel the wire passes directly into engagement with said mandrel.

5. A mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said Wheel has its axis parallel to said mandrel and is freely rotatable and around which the wire passes before moving into engagement with said mandrel.

6. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said wheel has its axis parallel to the axis of Said mandrel and around which wheel the wire passes through at least one turn in the same direction as it is wound on said mandrel whereby stresses in the wire prior to its engagement with said wheel are removed therefrom and said wheel introduces stresses into the wire corresponding to the stresses which will be introduced thereinto by winding the wir on said mandrel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 1,649,600 11/1927 Kiwi l4092.3 2,861,621 11/1958 Lowther 72-145 3,002,537 10/1961 Kenmore et a1. -1 3,101,750 8/1963 Pfiifile 140-92.3

FOREIGN PATENTS 221,142 11/ 7 Australia.

RICHARD J. HERBST, Primary Examiner. 

